Finding Kate Huntley (20 page)

Kate sighed. “Let’s not fight. Go to the party with me.”

“I can’t. And I don’t think it’s wise for you to go to this party either. Everywhere we’ve gone, we’ve been recognized. You’ll be taking a big risk if you attend.”

“You said you were going to do things my way.”

“I thought I could. I’m sorry. I’m going to drive to town and make a few calls. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

“Harrison?”

He nodded. “I’m going to ask him to meet me.”

“But—”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he’s alone before I talk with him.” They both knew the chances of Harrison coming alone were slim to none, but neither of them said a word.

“I don’t really think you’re boring,” Kate said.

“And I don’t want to crowd you or change anything about you. I think you’re perfect just the way you are. And listen,” he added. “I appreciate your Auntie letting us stay, but look around, Kate. This place is filled with expensive antiques and collectibles. I thought you told me she ran a nonprofit organization.”

“Apparently she made a killing in the stock market when her father sold the family business.”

“Hmmm.” He smoothed his knuckles across Kate’s jaw. “Sure you don’t want to come along for the ride?”

“I promised Auntie I would help her set up for the party. Maybe you’re right though. People will recognize me. I got caught up in the idea of being carefree and having fun. Imagine that?”

“Someday, Kate. Someday you’ll be free to do everything your heart desires.”

She sighed. “I’ll go along with the party thing until the last minute, and then I’ll tell Auntie I’m not feeling well enough to attend.”

“I think that’s a good idea.” He headed for the door. “What about the dogs?” he asked, turning back to her.

“They’re locked up for now since the gardeners are here. But I did learn a trick from one of the butlers this morning. If you call the dogs by their name, they’re trained to obey. In fact, I shook hands with two of the dogs earlier this morning. You just can’t show fear, and like I told you last night...never run.”

“Yeah, I’ve got that part down. Are all the dogs named Jack?”

The corner of her lips curved upward. “Jack, Max, and Buddy.”

Amused, he lifted a brow and said, “Do me a favor while I’m gone.”

Kate waited for him to finish.

“Watch your back until I return.”

Chapter 25

Harrison stepped on the gas. He’d been trying to reach Sheila at home for the past twenty minutes but the line was busy. He knew how she hated surprises, and he wanted to give her enough time to spruce up. Without hair and makeup, Sheila had a tendency to look downright frightening at times.

Donna, his ex-wife, was meeting him at the house. His youngest daughter, Rachel, had finally agreed to stay with him for the weekend, and he’d very nearly fucked it all up. If Donna hadn’t called to make sure he was going to be home, he would have forgotten about the arrangement they agreed to months ago.

He had too much on his mind. Every mistake, every mishap, every shit part of his life could be directed at Coffey and the rookie’s inability to disappear.

Up ahead, the yellow light turned red. He hit the gas. Horns blared as he cut off oncoming traffic. Fuck. After everything he’d been through, he was going to get himself killed trying to get home in time to impress his ex-wife. He shouldn’t care what Donna thought. He had a beautiful, young wife now, but that hadn’t stopped him from thinking about Donna every second of every day since she left him. Donna was at the forefront of his mind even though she didn’t give a rat’s ass about him one way or another.

Driving too fast through the residential area, he swerved around a bicyclist before making another right. Donna’s silver BMW was parked at the gate at the end of the driveway.

As he pulled up to the gate, she climbed out of her car. She looked like a million bucks. Her chestnut colored hair had grown. Her natural highlights glistened beneath the sunlight. A dimple dented her cheek when she smiled. She looked fresh and clean in a simple green v-neck shirt and white linen pants. The woman was a sight for sore, tired eyes.

He hadn’t seen Donna or his daughter, Rachel, in months. Both their lawyers thought it was better that way while they reworked visitation rights and child support.

They embraced. She smelled like fresh flowers, newly mowed grass, sprigs of mint and everything good in life. He didn’t want to let her go. But all good things had to come to an end and their embrace was no exception. After she stepped away, he headed for his daughter who stood back and waited.

Taking Rachel in his arms, his chest ached as he held her close. “I’ve missed you, sweetheart.” More than she would ever know. His little girl had grown in the past two months. She no longer wore braces. She looked like her mother.

“Hi, Daddy.”

He smiled at her, watching as she and Donna climbed back inside the car and waited for him to open the gate so they could follow him up the steep driveway. Once again, he found himself wishing things had turned out differently. If only he’d tried harder to make things work. If only they were still one happy family. “I’m not sure if Sheila is home. She hasn’t answered my phone calls,” he said as he walked back to his car.

Donna had yet to see the new house he and Sheila had recently moved into. As he drove up the driveway, past dozens of fully-grown imported palms, he hoped Donna was taking it all in.

A car he didn’t recognize, a black Porsche 911, was parked near the fountain. Sheila had many friends. That explained why she hadn’t answered her phone. At least that meant she would be dolled up since she never entertained without looking her best.

He parked his car, climbed out, and waited for Donna and Rachel to catch up to him. He’d come a long way since their divorce, and he hoped they would be impressed. His daughter slid her hand into his and Donna followed the two of them up the wide flagstone stairs leading to his eight thousand square foot home.

Once inside, he shut the door behind them and called out Sheila’s name. He thought he heard music.

“Dad, this place is crazy big!” Rachel said. She turned to Donna. “Mom, can I have my sixteenth birthday here?”

“We’ll see.” Donna’s eyelashes fluttered before she managed to look into his eyes. God, she was amazing. His insides did funny things when he looked at her. He felt like he was back in high school.

“Which room is mine?” Rachel asked, already half way up the staircase.

“The biggest room, my darling. The second room to the right.”

He was about to take Donna on a tour of the kitchen, the most impressive room in the house with its new cast-iron duel fuel range convection oven and Pro 48 sub-zero refrigeration, but he stopped cold when his daughter quickly reappeared at the top of the staircase, all color drained from her small face.

“What is it, honey?” Donna asked.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to spy. I think I went to the wrong room.”

Harrison followed Donna up the stairs. The music was louder than he first thought, blaring from the room where his daughter would be staying. Sheila had insisted they needed to hire a decorator to make everything perfect, and, of course, he agreed. Sheila liked to listen to music while she worked.

“What kind of music is that?” Donna asked, wrinkling her nose.

Nobody needed to tell Harrison that the song playing was
That’s Not My Name
by The Ting Tings...his wife’s favorite song. Heat crept up his neck. How many times had he asked Sheila to not play that childish music in the house?

He stepped into the room with Donna on his heels, his daughter at her mother’s side. He couldn’t have been more bewildered by what he saw, couldn’t have come up with a worse scenario had he tried. Sheila stood facing the over-sized bed with her back to them. She was dressed in nothing more than a pair of thong underwear and four-inch spiked heels. In her hand, she held the leather jockey whip he had bought her to use during her riding lessons. Every time Katie White sang the words “My name is Stacey” Sheila cracked the whip at the naked man tied to the bed. The whip was designed to make maximum noise and yet cause little pain. The man’s tendons strained as he tried to get loose, but his wrists and ankles were bound to the bedposts and prevented him from getting away. He wasn’t going anywhere. The fellow was gagged, preventing him from announcing Harrison’s arrival. And yet the man’s eyes flashed with horror as Harrison leaned down and pulled the plug on the sound system.

Donna held their daughter close to her chest before finally rushing from the room.

Sheila turned about, her body well oiled, her eyes flashing anger until she saw who had interrupted her dirty little game.

The whip dropped from her hand at the same moment Harrison’s cell phone rang. Without blinking or looking away, he reached inside his pocket for his phone and flipped it open. It was Sharon, his secretary.

“Sir, I have a man on the phone who won’t give his name. He says he’s a friend who recently returned from Haiti.”

Through the family room window, Kate watched Jack jog down the driveway and stop at the mailbox. From where she stood, it appeared he was pocketing a letter. What was he doing?

Next, he hotwired the VW, climbed in, and drove away. Kate headed across the black and white checkered marble foyer, taking note of the pitched beamed ceilings, the large picture windows, and marble fireplace. Auntie had definitely spent a fair amount of money on renovations since she was here last.

French doors had been left opened to a spectacular covered veranda, ideal for outdoor entertaining and taking in captivating views of the Pacific and the mountains. The gentle crash of the waves in the distance reminded her of Haiti. She was homesick.

Kate didn’t quite know what to think about Jack. Somehow he had gotten the upper hand earlier when they argued. He was the one who avoided conflict like the plague, and yet he hadn’t seemed the least bit bothered when she told him to stop crowding her and telling her what to do with her life. He was only trying to help. He cared about her. He cared too much and it scared her. She frowned.

Nothing scared Kate Huntley. She wasn’t a weakling. She was brave and strong like her parents and nobody was going to—

“Kate. There you are.”

Caught off guard, Kate turned about, and found herself face to face with Auntie.

“Where’s Jack?”

“I’m afraid he had to leave.” Kate didn’t bother telling Auntie that Jack would be back, since she didn’t want to upset the woman. Being around Auntie reminded her of better times, made her think of her mother and how much she missed female camaraderie. “Jack asked me to apologize for being rude last night. You had every right to be worried.”

“I’m sorry he left,” she said, her voice sincere as she placed a slender arm around Kate’s shoulders. “I, too, wish to apologize for not telling him how much it means to me that he brought you home safely.”

They headed across the great room. “Jack was concerned about the disc,” Kate added. “It might be the only proof we have that he’s an innocent man. Are you sure the disc is in good hands?”

Auntie stopped to pat her hand, making Kate feel like a child. “Don’t worry about a thing. Come now, darling. Maria is waiting for you in the master suite.”

“I thought we were going to set the table together?”

“Don’t be silly, child. There are servants to attend to the decor. While Maria does your hair, you and I are going to have a chance to catch up with all you’ve been doing these past years. I want you to tell me everything. It has been much too long since we’ve chatted.”

Jack stood in the bright red telephone booth situated outside the Paseo Nuevo Mall in downtown Santa Barbara and held the handset between his shoulder and ear while he reached back and pulled a video disc from his back pocket. Although he hadn’t been able to read the original disc, he had managed to force the surveillance clerk to copy it. There was a copy of the disc in the trunk of the Volkswagen and one under the front seat. There was also a copy in the inside zipper section of Kate’s bag. He hadn’t told Kate because he figured she’d be safer if she didn’t know. Instead, he let her believe she’d given the original and only disc to her Auntie.

“I’d like to talk to Agent Harrison,” he told the person on the other end of the line.

“No, I’d rather not give you my name,” Jack said. “Tell him it’s a good friend back from Haiti and that I’m in a hurry.”

Less than thirty seconds later, Harrison was on the phone. “Where are you, Jack?”

Harrison’s voice sounded rattled, tense, as if he had too much on his mind. Despite all that, Harrison managed to emit just enough concern to keep Jack guessing as to whose side he was on. “I’m going to be frank with you, Harrison. As far as I’m concerned I can’t trust you or anybody else in the agency. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that Patrick Monahan is dead.” He wanted to hear Harrison’s reaction, if any, to the news. But the other end of the line was silent. “For the record,” Jack added, “I had nothing to do with Dr. Forstin’s death.”

“You know how it works,” Harrison said without giving anything away. “If you’re innocent, the truth will come out. It always does.”

“Who hired the pilot to pick me up?”

“I know it looks bad, Jack, but the plane’s engine was having problems. The pilot panicked and jumped ship. Nothing personal. Turn yourself in and we’ll get everything straightened out.”

Jack had heard enough. Harrison was playing games, so Jack cut him short. “I’m going to hang up, Harrison, so you might want to listen up. I have a video disc here with me that I’m sure you would like to have in your possession. Apparently, Dr. Forstin knew he was in danger and wanted the truth to be known in the event something happened to him.”

“I think you’re bluffing.”

“It’s your call,” Jack said. “Meet me at the Paseo Nuevo Mall in Santa Barbara on State Street if you want the disc. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble getting one of your trustworthy pilots to fly you to the Santa Barbara airport. I’ll be at California Pizza Kitchen at two o’clock sharp.”

“I can’t possibly get there in that amount of time.”

Jack ignored him. “That gives you, say, nearly two hours. Plenty of time. Oh, and do you have a pen handy?”

Jack paused, giving Harrison enough time to compose himself and grab pen and paper. “I also need two thousand dollars in cash.” A random amount he picked off the top of his head mostly because he hadn’t been able to use credit cards or touch his bank account knowing the feds would be watching. He and Kate were running out of dough. He looked over his notes to see what type of computer could read the disc. “I also need a LF72 with wireless antennae and a WCTT-2010 LevelOne CP, a charger and extra battery. That should do it. If you’re late, don’t expect to find me waiting.”

Jack hung up and waited a few seconds before he picked up the handset and inserted more money. When the operator picked up he asked to be connected with the Ventura Police Department. After inserting a handful of coins he was connected to a clerk. Jack told the woman he was with the FBI, Cyber Unit, and she instantly forwarded his call to the lieutenant.

“Hello, lieutenant. This is A.J. Hanson, FBI, Cyber Unit 3,” he lied. “I hate to bother you with such a minor problem, but I was hoping you might be able to help me. I’m in town for a high tech convention and I ended up with a flat tire on Highway 101. A friendly couple stopped to help me and after they drove away, I noticed the man had dropped his money clip containing a sizeable amount of cash. I did have the good sense to write down their license plate number as they were driving off. It’s 1TRR597.”

Jack waited while he was put on hold. Within minutes the lieutenant was back on the line, giving him Sheila Harrison’s name and address. “Thanks,” Jack said. “I appreciate it. Keep up the good work.”

Jack hung up the phone and shook his head. He’d been fairly certain it would be Harrison’s name and address that would come up on the database and not John Wheaton, the name Kate’s Auntie had given. Jack had made the call to check the license plate number because he wanted to know whether or not Kate’s Auntie had lied.

Knowing Dr. Elizabeth Kramer had lied, and not being able to talk to Kate about it right away, didn’t sit well with Jack. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be in two places at once.